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Welcome to biohackers.la, the Los Angeles Biohackers' home in the tubes. We are a diverse and eclectic group of amateur scientists with a lab based in Downtown LA. We provide space and equipment for people to work on their own biology projects and experiments. Our meetings are on Sunday afternoons, so please come visit.

What is killing off California's trees, and is there anything you can do about it?

First spotted in southern California just over a decade ago, the polyphagus shothole borer (PSHB) beetle is currently spreading through forests across the Los Angeles area killing a number of tree species, including the economically, and tastefully, important avocado. Finding a way to manage this infestation requires understanding of the PSHB and how it spreads. This is where you, citizen scientist, can help out! By with collecting data on infected trees, together we can enable the larger scientific community to find the patterns behind this disastrous spread.

Please Come to LA Biohackers on Saturday, February 28th of February from 2:00 - 3:15pm to learn about the PSHB beetle, how to track its spread, and how to analyze the data we collect.

Are you interested in how your brain works? How your five senses really sense? Have you ever wondered what the spikes of neurons really look like? Do you like doing experiments? Well, you're in luck! Backyard Brains is collaborating with L.A. Biohackers to conduct a DIY workshop just for you!

The goal is this workshop is to introduce you to nerve physiology, electronics, and help you make a device to study the nervous system. You will measure the electrical signals produced by real nerve cells and muscles, with a device you make yourself. All of the necessary tools for construction will be provided. All participants will receive instruction on soldering, no experience necessary. Everyone will take home a working device. You will leave with our own neuron or muscle amplifier.

First, we will provide live demonstrations on the nervous systems of invertebrates... although different from us, they have similar cells in their brains. So you will actually have some understanding of how your own brain works! We will then guide you through the assembly of your own SpikerBoxes. Everyone will receive the parts and tools required to build, plus step-by-step instructions on how to solder each component in place.

Finally comes the fun part. Science! We'll go through a whole bunch of fun experiments you can do with your new SpikerBox. We will learn about "Spikes", and "Rate Coding", how temperature affects the neurons, and how electricity can make muscles move!

NOTE: A BACKYARD BRAINS II AND AN ARDUINO WORKSHOP ARE BEING PLANNED. CHECK BACK FOR DETAILS.

Are you interested in how your brain works? How your five senses really sense? Have you ever wondered what the spikes of neurons really look like? Do you like doing experiments? Well, you're in luck! Backyard Brains is collaborating with L.A. Biohackers to conduct a DIY workshop just for you!

The goal is this workshop is to introduce you to nerve physiology, electronics, and help you make a device to study the nervous system. You will measure the electrical signals produced by real nerve cells and muscles, with a device you make yourself. All of the necessary tools for construction will be provided. All participants will receive instruction on soldering, no experience necessary. Everyone will take home a working device. You will leave with our own neuron or muscle amplifier.

First, we will provide live demonstrations on the nervous systems of invertebrates... although different from us, they have similar cells in their brains. So you will actually have some understanding of how your own brain works! We will then guide you through the assembly of your own SpikerBoxes. Everyone will receive the parts and tools required to build, plus step-by-step instructions on how to solder each component in place.

Finally comes the fun part. Science! We'll go through a whole bunch of fun experiments you can do with your new SpikerBox. We will learn about "Spikes", and "Rate Coding", how temperature affects the neurons, and how electricity can make muscles move!

NOTE: A BACKYARD BRAINS II AND AN ARDUINO WORKSHOP ARE BEING PLANNED. CHECK BACK FOR DETAILS.

Vote for us to help us win $100k. We want the money to expand our already kick ass hackerspace but we need your help. Go here: http://myla2050play.maker.good.is/projects/LAB
Create an account on that website, vote for us, then confirm your vote via a link that arrives in your email. It's that easy and costs you nothing but a minute of your time.

The Goldhirsh Foundation is giving away ten $100,000 grants to Los Angeles based organizations. The campaigns with the most votes win.

And if you haven't been to our lab in a while, stop by on a Sunday afternoon to see what we're up to.

Register: This event is in collaboration with the Orange County IEEE. Please register at: www.backyardbrains.com

Optional: Bring a laptop

Are you interested in learning more about how your brain works? How muscles produce electrical activity? Have you ever wondered what the "spikes" of neurons really look ... and sound like? Do some citizen science with the crew from L.A. Biohackers while making an EMG SpikerBox" that tracks the electrical signals produced by your muscles. With a few configural modifications this kit can also perform experiments designed for Backyard Brains' original SpikerBox. You will have the choice of building your own muscle EMG SpikerBox or the muscle EMG SpikerShield for the Arduino . NOTE: The Muscle EMG Arduino SpikerBox Shield requires an Arduino microcontroller (not included). Individual Arduino boards and/or kits can be found at techie stores like Frys and Radio Shack . Great deals on Arduino kits can somtimes be obtained at the semi monthly meetings of the L.A. Robotics Club . Instruction and tools on how to assemble the kits will be provided. No soldering experience necessary! This kit has been featured in Wired, Scientific American, Make, New York Times, TED and more.

Backyard Brains and the L.A. Biohackers are hosting a DIY neuroscience workshop just for you!

Are you interested in how your brain works? How your five senses really sense? Have you ever wondered what the spikes of neurons really look like? Do you like doing experiments? Well, you're in luck! Backyard Brains is collaborating with L.A. Biohackers to conduct a workshop just for you!

The goal is this workshop is to introduce you to nerve physiology, electronics, and help you make a device to study the nervous system. You will measure the electrical signals produced by real nerve cells and muscles, with a device you make yourself. All of the necessary tool for construction will be provided. All participants will receive instruction on soldering, no experience necessary. Everyone will take home a working device. You will leave with our own neuron or muscle amplifier (you choose!).

First, we will provide live demonstrations on the nervous systems of invertebrates... although different from us, they have similar cells in their brains. So you will actually be understanding how your own brain works! We will then guide you through how to build your own SpikerBoxes. Everyone will receive the parts and tools required to build, plus step-by-step instructions on how to solder each component in place.

Finally comes the fun part. Science! We'll go through a whole bunch of fun experiments you can do with your new SpikerBox. We will learn about "Spikes", and "Rate Coding", how temperature affects the neurons, and how electricity can make muscles move!

Well, the post-move dust is finally settled and we're just about done cleaning up that dust, so I'd like to announce the Super Official Grand (Re-)Opening of the LA Biohackers Lab. The LAB Lab, if you will.

I'd also like to use this as an opportunity to mention that LA Biohackers are the first non-university affiliated educational “franchise” of the Build-A-Genome course created at Johns Hopkins University. This NSF funded project is looking to completely synthesize a significantly redesigned genome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, more commonly known as brewer's or baker's yeast. Although normally taught to advanced undergraduates and early graduate students, we will be offering the class and the opportunity to directly contribute to a major scientific project along side prestigious universities. Adapting the course to a group that may have minimal existing biology background will be a process, but it's one that I know I am definitely looking forward to.

Whether you've been with us since we started meeting in coffee houses in 2010, you fondly recall our cramped corner lab shenanigans or you're just hearing about us and DIYbio now, come on over and check us out.

First off a big thanks to everyone who contributed to our initial funding drive. You're all awesome!

We are now moved into our new lab nearby the Downtown LA Arts District. We're finishing up the initial post move-in setup and cleaning, but watch this space for official grand re-opening news, and make sure you're on our mailing list to get all the latest info as it happens.

As you may know, our group has been out of action for the better part of this year. We have some big plans (see below) but first we need a space. In order to judge how much monthly income we will have from donations by regular members, we need to get a head count. The two things we need to know are:

(1) Are you able and willing to contribute $50 per month?
(2) Are you able and willing to contribute 3 months ($150) up front? And by up front I mean like tomorrow, or soon thereafter.

If you need a little more incentive, once we move in we will be offering a few classes for those wanting to get their feet wet, as well as a synthetic biology class in partnership with Jef Boeke's lab at Johns Hopkins. Please note there may be extra fees for these classes to cover our material costs.

Build-A-Genome - This class at LA Biohackers is a franchise of the Build-A-Genome class at Johns Hopkins. In this class, students of any age or educational background will become familiar with the basic techniques of molecular biology and then embark on their own project to create a 10kb genome fragment which will be submitted to the Sc2.0 Project - a project to engineer a completely synthetic yeast species. Not only will students get their feet wet learning molecular biology, they will have fun working on their own project and also be contributing to a real, cutting edge research project.

The Sc2.0 Project started in Jef Boeke's lab at Johns Hopkins University, funded by the NSF with the goal of designing a new version of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and synthesizing the new genomes from scratch. Aside from being a synthetic organism, the new yeast will have many features which make it more amenable to experiments and engineering. The Build-A-Genome course at Johns Hopkins started in 2007 and offered undergraduates an opportunity to get hands on experience in engineering a synthetic genome. Since then the class has started "franchises" at Loyola University in Baltimore and Tianjin in China. In 2012, the franchise was expanded by the invitation of Jef Boeke to allow for citizen scientists of all educational backgrounds at LA Biohackers to participate as well.

Intro to Molecular Biology - In this course participants will get hands on experience learning the basics of molecular biology. You will learn how to do PCR, restriction digests, ligation, and bacterial transformations. You will splice a gene coding for green fluorescent protein (GFP) into a laboratory strain of E. coli. Using the knowledge and experience from this course you will be able to do your own, more advanced molecular biology experiments.

Personal Genomics - In this hands on course participants will learn the basics of PCR and DNA sequencing. You will extract DNA from a cheek swab and use PCR to amplify a region of interest (either BRCA1, ACTN3 or CCR5) then determine the sequence of that region. Using the sequence, you can determine useful facts about your genetic predisposition to certain conditions.

Plant Transformation - Ever wonder how scientists genetically modify plants for research purposes? Now you can learn in this hands-on class where you introduce a fluorescent gene from a jellyfish. Participants will receive training in the techniques and receive all the plasmids and bacterial strains to do it on their own. The end result is a plant whose plasma membranes fluoresce red.